Wiley Almanac Blog. Traffic Separation Scheme off Lands End
WHAT? At 0000 UT on Wednesday the 1st of July 2009 the north-south TSS between Land’s End and the Isles of Scilly will be extended northwards by 12 nautical miles.
The present northern limit is at 50°08’.09N. The new limit will be at 50°20’.03N. See the diagram above. .New editions of Admiralty charts 2565, 1148 and 777 were due to have been published on 21 May 2009.
Nothing else has changed, ie the southern limits, orientation and width of the lanes and separation zones remain the same. The Inshore Traffic Zone (ITZ) is also unchanged. Contrary to what has been written elsewhere, the northern limit of the ITZ will not be extended 2M northwards. It remains at 50°08’.02N, ie some 700 metres north of Cape Cornwall.
WHY? The reason for the 12M extension revolves around keeping traffic clear of Wave Hub which is part of an offshore renewable energy development; visit http://download.southwestrda.org.uk. Wave Hub is an underwater station on the seabed in 50m of water, connected to wave energy generators and to the UK mainland. It is located in a suitably buoyed and lit rectangular area (2M x 1M) about 10M NNW of St Ives Head (50°13’.16N 05°28’.73W). It is also about 1M SW of a Wave recorder SPM buoy, Fl (5) Y 20s, (50°22’.08N 05°37’.61W). The cable comes ashore at Hayle and plugs in to the National Grid.
WHERE? Yachts rounding Land’s End between the English and Bristol Channels should continue to use the ITZ as before. Yachts bound from the Bristol Channel to the Isles of Scilly or vice versa may find it quicker to transit the ITZ and then route south of the TSS towards Scilly. They may of course cross the TSS in accordance with Rule 10 of the IRPCS, in particular Rule 10c (Crossing on a heading at 90° to the flow in the TSS). The same applies to yachts bound to/from Ireland.
Lead kindly light, amid the encircling gloom. The night is dark and I am far from home.
Wave Hub may help.
Neville Feathersone. Editor of the Wiley Nautical Almanac.
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